Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes

Whole wheat blender pancakes have been around a long time. You basically start with whole wheat berries/kernels, blend them up with some milk and add various simple ingredients to make pancake batter. Yeah. Sounds easy. Unless you are me. I tried them five or six times in a row years ago. And they were a disaster. Batter was thin, pancakes burned easily, and the wheat taste was kind of overbearing. I knew they were popular with others but they just weren’t for me. So I found my favorite pancake mix and have stuck with it for years now.

That is, until my Aunt Marilyn sent me an email titled “Wheat Blender Pancakes Reinvented” and I decided that 8 years under my belt meant I needed to give these babies another go. And seriously, this new go-round has changed my breakfast-loving-life. Aunt Marilyn has tweaked and perfected the recipe so that they are fail-proof and they are worlds better than the ones I tried years ago.

So much better, in fact, that I have made them at least three times a week for the last three weeks running. I hate to say it, but they might even replace my beloved Oatmeal Pancake Mix for our favorite go-to breakfast. All you need is a blender, whole wheat berries and you can get started. Besides having to blend for about 8 minutes total, the batter comes together in a snap and the pancakes, with that slight hint of buttermilk goodness, are divine. And who can argue with a light, fluffy pancake that is 100% whole wheat?

These definitely need to be part of your breakfast regimen. See the note below the recipe title for more information on those cute little wheat berries. Widely available, there’s no reason you shouldn’t make these!

Note: Wheat berries are the full kernel of wheat and in this recipe, there aren't any substitutions (as in, you can't substitute 1 cup whole wheat flour, etc., although you can definitely play around with different kinds of wheat: hard white, soft white, hard red, kamut, and on and on). You can find whole wheat berries at some grocery stores - shockingly, I've often found it in 25# bags at Walmart - and also at health food/natural food stores. I also order it online if I'm out and can't find it locally - from Shelf Reliance (my sis-in-law is a consultant if you want to email her at [email protected]) or if you live near an LDS Home Storage Center, you can get it there. There are also many other grain sites online that offer it, too, like Wheat Montana and others.

Could I just use the ground wheat berries from my grain mill that are sitting in my freezer? If not, would a food processor or a regular blender work too? (I don’t have a blendtec or a vitamix and didn’t know if the blender I do have would be strong enough) Thanks!

Emily – I’ve never tried it with a food processor and I’m not sure it will get the mixture as smooth as a blender but it’s definitely worth a try.

Hilary – you really need to start with whole wheat berries like the recipe suggests. A regular blender should work just fine (I know many people who don’t have Blendtecs and make this recipe). It’s more about the time (blending it for the full three minutes) to get the smooth batter.

Missy – I almost always use hard white wheat (that’s what I have right now and what I used for these pancakes).

I’m excited to try this! As with you, previous versions of this were not ideal. Mel, you made mention of blending for 8 minutes, but the actual recipe looks like it only adds to 5?
Talia, the buttermilk substitution you mention works in any recipe calling for buttermilk.

I am so excited about this recipe! I have, shall we say ” more than a few” #10 cans of hard red wheat from the cannery, and I don’t have a wheat grinder, so this is a perfect way to use it up. I can’t wait to try this!

We just made these pancakes this morning. They tasted yummy, my 2 year old loved them!! they were a little flat, but that is probably from living at an elevation of 6750. They only things that don’t need high elevation changes are your cookie recipes made with cream cheese. Thanks for the good recipes!

If you put the wheat berries and buttermilk in your blender in the evening and let it sit overnight, your batter will be smoother and your pancakes will have a bit more fluff. The culture in the buttermilk keeps it from spoiling, so it’s safe. You also don’t need to blend them quite so long.

So I just made these with my regular blender and milk/vinegar combination (no buttermilk on hand) and they turned out fantastic!! Mine were also on the thin side, but boy were they tasty!! Another winner!

Can you have a weekly Aunt Marilyn recipe? haha! It seems like when both you and Aunt Marilyn like a recipe…it is the best darn tastiest thing ever and it goes in my recipe book straight away! Or a Mel and Aunt Marilyn cookbook full of pages of pictures and treats? Yes! That is what I will ask Santa for next year! (pleases and begging inserted here).

These are a weekly item for us, although I use oil and no buttermilk….this version is richer, BUT, I have tried the variety of wheat berries and feel that the soft white berries are significantly better…more fluffy, not as bitter as I think the hard red wheat can be for example. They might be harder to come by….I drive 45 minutes to get my #25 bag. I also use the recipe for waffles and don’t change anything.

Like many others, I too have tried the blender wheat pancake, and thought the taste was very good, but the batter was quite runny and the pancakes were flat. I’ll have to give these a try, but my blender is pretty old, and has seen better days. Also, do you think it would work if the recipe was halved? …12-18 pancakes is a lot for my small bunch.

I remember my Mom making whole wheat blender pancakes for us when I was growing up, and I have been wanting to make them for my own little ones, and this recipe looks awesome! Thank you for sharing this

These are so good. I am dairy free right now so I had to sub coconut milk for the buttermilk and milk and used that nasty smart balance for the butter and these turned out yummy. They were thin but I noticed the pancakes at the end were thicker then the the first ones so I think waiting 10 mins or so would help. I love theses with the wheat. They don’t taste like cake but are a nutty delicious breakfast. Thanks!

Ah, Mel…you’ve lured me away from Aunt Jamima “just add water” with your lovely oatmeal pancakes, so I suppose, eventually I’ll be swayed by these. But, for now, I just love the others… My family is healthier from knowing you!

Could you mix up the batter at night and put it in the fridge to cook in the morning? I know I’ve refrigerated leftover batter before with no problems, but wasn’t are it would turn out ok with this kind?

Kelly – I’ve only ever made it the morning we need it but a friend texted me yesterday with the same question and I think that yes, you definitely could. My advice would be to give it a good whirl in the blender before making pancakes (after it has sat overnight or even for a few hours). And maybe add a few tablespoons of milk if it seems overly thick from resting.

I just had to let you know that I made these for supper tonight, and they were not only super fast and easy to whip up, but (as promised) incredibly delicious! I made the recipe as you printed it, except I increased it to 2 1/2 times the recipe (made in two separate batches) since there are 9 of us and we were all ravenous:) Everyone had thirds and raved the entire time about how awesome the pancakes were, so again, thank you for sharing this little gem!

That recipe is super similar to the one in the Blendtec recipe book. They are awesome…and so yummy. My kids eat them like they are going out of style. It’s also nice to find a recipe that I actually use my food storage wheat with. The Blendtec recipe doesn’t call for buttermilk. How to you think that effects that consistency?

I made these the past two morning in a row and my kids couldn’t get enought of them. The 2nd time I mixed in some pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice. They were really good that way too. Thanks for the great recipe. It’s a keeper.

I ran out of my oatmeal pancake mix, so I just tried these this morning. I’m sure it was my super-duper-old blenders fault, but I wasn’t super thrilled with the results. They weren’t grainy, so I know that the wheat kernels were sufficiently blended, but for some reason the texture was strange and chewy and they were very “eggy”. I melted my butter in a small pan on the stove and then added it to the mix. I’m wondering if maybe the butter was too hot and did something weird to the batter? I don’t know, but I probably won’t make them again until the day I get a new blender. We sure love your oatmeal pancake mix though, so I think we’ll stick with that!

I made these this morning and my son and daughter loved them (yay!), but they tasted the same to me as most other wheat/blender pancakes. I’m wondering if they turned out flat because there is no baking soda? I’ve noticed in recipes that if you sub buttermilk for milk you are supposed to alter the leavening agents (less baking powder and add a little baking soda). Would that help with the flattness? Maybe I should have let them blend longer (I followed the recipe, but there were still chunks at the bottom). And next time I’d probably let the mixture soak overnight. That seems like a good idea. I always appreciate new and fast breakfast recipes. Thanks!

Wow, these were so good! I made them with my vitamix & needed to blend them only about a minute for the 2nd time. Also I needed to add some more buttermilk & milk as the mix got “stuck” during the blend time,cI just added enough liquid to get the mixture moving again . So I was hoping I hadn’t messed them up! But no, they cooked up so moist & tender! Yes, they were a more flat pancake, but as long as they taste good & have the right texture that’s no problem for me! I like these even better than the oatmeal pancake mix of yours Mel. I like the taste & texture better. Thanks for introducing these to me!

Stacie – I actually had the same thought as you with the baking soda so after making this recipe a few times as written, I tried a bit of baking soda in the recipe and it didn’t make a lick of difference so I don’t add it. If there were still chunks at the bottom of your blender, then yes, I definitely think the batter needs to be blended longer until it is completely smooth. And the resting period may help too. I don’t let the batter rest and while the pancakes aren’t super thick, they definitely aren’t flat so you also might try decreasing the liquid slightly. Good luck!

I love every recipe I have made from your site, but I made these for company this morning and was very disappointed. They were really flat and lacked flavor. I think I will stick with my IHOP recipe. No one ate more than one bite of these.

I just made these. Like others, I have tried another version of these and they were ok but I like the buttermilk in these much better. Mine were flat…I read the comments after I was done but I will try less buttermilk and letting the batter rest. I read some of the comments of people that didn’t like them….I wonder if they don’t eat much whole wheat. We eat only eat whole wheat bread….my kids don’t like white…..and so since we are used to whole wheat, these pancakes taste good to us. I love my buttermilk pancake recipe (I think it’s similar to one of yours) but we eat hot breakfast most of the time and I like that we can have whole wheat and still have the buttermilk ones once in awhile. I hope these will get a little more fluffy like the white buttermilk pancakes, but if not, they are still good. Definitely be making these a lot..and the only syrup we eat is your homemade maple…..love it. Thanks Mel. You rock!

I was disappointed, too. I put chocolate chips in mine. I had stuff that wasn’t blended enough. I think they wouldn’t have been very good without the chocolate chips. Sorry. I really like most of your recipes. And I only eat whole wheat flour stuff. So this wasn’t a huge stretch for me.

Ginnie (and others) – I definitely think it’s a pretty key component to have all of the wheat berries completely blended up. If you have chunky pieces (even little ones) that aren’t blended, it will make a huge difference in the outcome because the blended wheat berries act as the flour in the mix. The mixture should be extremely smooth and combined. This recipe is one of those that is either loved…or not, it sounds like. Sorry it hasn’t worked out for some of you. I’m surprised, as we eat these several times a week, but either way, hopefully you have another pancake recipe to fall back on. Thanks for taking the time to comment!

I’m only commenting because I saw a couple negative reviews and I just Do. Not. Get. It. BEST PANCAKES EVER!!! Not best whole wheat, not best blender, JUST FLAT OUT BEST PANCAKES EVER!!! So fluffy, light, and delicious. We absolutely love these. I have no idea how they could turn out flat for people with a full tablespoon of baking powder in them…

To be fair, I also have a blendtec… BUT. I also made blender pancakes before I had it, and while I didn’t care for the recipes I had, I never had any trouble getting the batter smooth. I think any blender can do it if you just let it blend for enough time. Anyway, just wanted to thank you for this great recipe. I already posted it to Facebook, they really are fabulous! I’ve made them about 7 or 8 times now, and I’ve doubled it almost every time to feed my family of 5 and have some left over for school lunches. Sooooo good!

Well I’m joining the ranks of the “it didn’t work for me”. I have a NINJA blender , made them the night before. The batter, before going into the fridge was EXTREMELY THICK to the point I couldn’t get them out of the blender without scooping it out, so I added more milk. The batter even started to warm up from all the blending. But adding the milk, seemed to work a little but not much. Put them in the fridge for the night. NEXT MORNING…the batter was thicker than ever so i re-blended it with a little more milk. Spooned the batter onto a hot griddle, and they took forever to cook. First batch cooked for over 10 min in total and was still raw in the middle (had to cook them further so we wouldn’t eat raw batter). Finally got the cooked through and through but they also were flat as, well “a pancake”. No rise or lift to them at all. Also, the wife said they were also pretty bland tasting, missing that sweetness of regular pancakes. Can I add more sugar?

I still have enough for 1-2 more batches and am willing to try once more if the tips can help.

Craig – sure, go ahead and add more sugar if you want them sweeter. I don’t have a NINJA so I’m not exactly sure what went wrong but it sounds like the batter may have warmed up or even cooked a bit while you blended it. In my blender, the batter is very pourable after blending and isn’t warm to the touch at all. I’m sorry they didn’t work out for you! Do you have another type of blender to use? I’m assuming not. But if you do, that might be a good comparison.

These are the best blender whole wheat pancakes I have tried! I have had no problem with these, but I do have a Vitamix so that may make the difference! I also make the buttermilk with 1 tbsp. of white vinegar and it works well. Even my white stuff only son loves them! Thanks so much for a winning recipe!

These blender pancakes are definitely the best I’ve tried, I had given up on them, but they were so yummy, even my husband said they didn’t taste “whole wheaty” going in the permanent recipe binder! I cut the butter to 2 T. and it worked great!

So I made these last night dnd they were an epic fail!! I was so dissapointed because I had such high hopes for them. I’ve been thinking about them all morning… So I decided to look at the recipe again. Lo and behold… I used 1 TEASPOON baking powder! Oops! I must have been going too fast and missed that it said tablespoon. Surprisingly, My 5 year old still ate the few that turned out ok. I LOVE your recipes, so I’m going to try this again… The right way!;)

Wow! These were fantastic! I’ve never heard of anything like these before, but I have plenty of wheat berries to make this recipe again and again! My two year old especially loved them. He ate 5 of them, and he didn’t even want syrup on them! Thank you so much for this recipe! Oh, and I used my old, junky blender and they turned out just fine.

Just so you know and any other gluten free readers…I have made these several times with buckwheat kernels and also with gluten free oat groats subbed straight across for the wheat berries and they are wonderful either way! Thanks for the delicious, easy breakfast!

Hi Mel,
Just tried these today in my new blendtec and they worked so great! I often make whole wheat pancakes but these seemed so light and fluffy and tasted really yummy. This is my new go to pancake recipe! Thanks so much
Karen

I had the same problem that I could NOT get them to cook through to the middle. My mix was very warm after I finished blending. Maybe I shouldn’t have used my Vitamix on high? I’ll try it again though because I just starting sprouting my own wheat berries and I really want this to work. You haven’t failed me yet so if I can figure out what I’m doing wrong I know these will be delicious.

I just tried these. Very good, both with and without chocolate chips. I used a kitchenaid food processor instead of a blender (too lazy to pull out the blender). I didn’t follow the recipe too precisely. I also used powdered buttermilk instead of fresh since that is what we keep around. The batter is almost more like a runny yeast dough (at the Buttermilk-wheat stage) than a pancake batter. I blended it longer than 3 minutes. After about 5 minutes it wasn’t runny at all, but more smooth. It is still thicker and a little stickier than normal batter when ready to cook. I still had a little graininess from the wheat that wasn’t fully ground, but I since I hate food to be too soft with no texture, I preferred that. The first set looked done, but the middle was still a little creamy. I upped the temperature on the next batch – they stayed spongier and kept their rise better. I’m at 7000 feet so nothing cooks quite the same. Thanks! I’ll be trying out more of your recipes.

Mel, I tried these this morning with my most agreeable testers (4 of my kids) and it was a success. You can definitely taste a strong whole wheat taste, but it was pleasant. I’m not a huge fan of pancakes personally, so maybe the whole wheat taste is why I liked these better than any pancake I’ve tried with the exception of IHOP’s “Harvest Grain ‘N Nut” pancakes. I think addition of nuts would make all the difference for me.

Anyway, I still have my more picky testers to try it out on I doubt my 17 year old “Do we HAVE to eat whole grain?” son will like them, but I honestly don’t put a lot of weight into his opinions as the only whole grain things he actually likes is oatmeal and whole wheat sandwich bread (but not whole wheat other kinds of bread). I don’t know if my husband will like them or not. He is completely on board with moving our family towards all whole grains, but he is picky about his pancakes. He might simply prefer his personal pancake recipe made with freshly ground wheat.

Anyway, thank you for all you do, but most especially for your amazing whole grain recipes.

I made these this morning and they didn’t turn out like how you described them, though this was no fault on your part Mel! We don’t have a blender so I used our food processor. I would say about 95 percent of the wheat berries didn’t turn to flour. So I took my colander and separated the wheat berries from the rest and added a little over 1/2 a cup of whole wheat flour to the batter which make them too heavy. It was moments like this I wish I had my own mill. So, needless to say they were a little too heavy but the taste was really great!! The biggest reason I wanted to make this is because I have a food allergy to white flour, so the fact that this doesn’t have any really appealed to me. I have to prepare to take a nap within 45 minutes after eating anything with white flour because the white flour just drains me physically. Anyway, I couldn’t wait for breakfast for Thursday or Friday so after my middle schooler got home today I made these using my whole wheat flour for his afterschool snack. THEY WERE AMAZING!! my very picky 12 year old son said they taste like the ones I usually fix, but different!! That is a true compliment Mel!! I have had whole wheat pancakes before and these taste so much better. They don’t taste heavy and the texture was light and fluffy.
I looked online and a website said that the equivalent of 1 cup of wheat berries equals 1.5 cups of flour, so that is what I did. I think when I make these again that I will only put 1 1/4 cups of whole wheat flour in instead of 1.5 cups. Other than that, they tasted so very good and the fact that I didn’t use all purpose flour is such a bonus!! thank you and your Aunt for this recipe!!

I made these last night and they are amazing. I was looking for an alternative to regular pancakes due to diabetes. I subsituted the sugar for Coconut Palm Sugar and they were still perfect. Thanks for the recipe!

We have eaten this kind of recipe off and on for years. When my children were home I would get them to guess how many pancakes one cup of whole wheat would make. I’d say we were like the little red hen using our own ingredients grown in our own town. They loved that. I use hard white wheat too. An adult can get full on two pancakes because they are whole and they stay with you a lot longer. Today I made your recipe with honey for the sugar and olive oil instead of butter. (We are in an olive oil club and get the freshest in the world so I don’t know if store bought would work as well) I did this for me because I’d been sick and now wanted something really healthy. I really like the buttermilk because it helps them to be fluffy and still moist. I like to let the batter sit for 5-10 minutes as mentioned. I don’t have all my tastebuds back yet and it was still yummy and satisfying. I will keep this recipe.

Just wanted to let you know I tried these. Having tried blender wheat pancakes years ago (which were terrible!!) I was a bit leery but thought I’d give it a shot given your recommendation. I’m pleasantly surprised to say we loved them!! They turned out amazingly fluffy (which was not the case with the hockey puck pancakes of yesteryear) which I was very happy about. A light, fluffy texture is big for me when it comes to pancakes, and these did not disappoint. They definitely had a nutty, hearty flavor, which we enjoyed. Thanks for another winning recipe!

These were super easy to whip up – I used a Blendtec, so I didn’t have to blend as long as you stated…because that thing will chew up a pool cue. The smell and flavor are amazing, but they are the flattest pancakes I’ve ever made. Not sure why that happened….even after letting the batter rest, they were still flat. However, we sure aren’t hurting to eat them. I made a big batch for the freezer too. Thanks!

I don’t have a blender, only a food processor, so I didn’t want to risk whizzing everything together straight off; instead I soaked the wheat in the buttermilk OVERNIGHT, and then did everything else as written (also added a banana). These were a great, great, great success. Apparently our buttermilk in Israel is different somehow to yours – less rising abilities, maybe?? But it’s sour and milky and it seemed to do the trick. Really impressed and thrilled to have found this recipe. My 3.5 and 6.5 year olds enjoyed them very much. The long soak was essential, I think, with only a food processor to work with. THANK YOU!

Reading through the comments, I think that the soak will solve everybody’s problems. Mine were fluffy, and cooked really quickly – no raw insides at all. I usually get a bit of rawness with NORMAL pancakes, so the fact that I didn’t with these was a real treat. Be kind to your blenders – soak your grains!

Thank you Mel and thank you Auntie Marilyn! I was nervous that blending to mix would make these tough but they were the easiest most tender and moist whole wheat pancakes I have ever had. The batter was easy pour, not thick like I’m used to. No fuss, no mess! And FRESH WHOLE grain! Hooray! I used my vita-mix and went by eye, not the time. It’s a good thing I did, because the batter would have cooked! I only used half of it. I’m sure tomorrow’s pancakes will be even better after the batter rests for a day. I will be looking for many more of your recipes. :)) Thank you.

Would you be able to use an egg substitute or does it have to be regular eggs? I recently tried the flax meal/water combo as a sub for eggs in baking, but I wasn’t sure if this would work for pancakes.